


Any Other Name

by Level4Chaos



Category: Sorcerous Stabber Orphen
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst, Emotional Manipulation, Eventual Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Magic-Users, Male Homosexuality, Obsession, Oral Sex, POV Third Person Omniscient, Sexual Content, Spoilers, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-23
Updated: 2014-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-13 01:30:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16007462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Level4Chaos/pseuds/Level4Chaos
Summary: Can a heart that was broken so many years ago be healed in one night? Orphen seems to think so, but whilst Hartia is willing to forgive, it's going to take a lot more than Krylancelo's body to make him forget.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **WARNING:** This fanfic contains graphic homosexual sex scenes both with and without the use of magic.
> 
>  **DISCLAIMER:** The characters and places in this fanfic are not mine! I assure you they will be returned to their rightful places in perfect condition - and I will have made no money from their adventures! This story is a work of fiction, and I acknowledge that I have taken uncountable liberties with the Orphen plot and characters' personalities / sexual persuasions. In no way do I mean the characters, or their creators, any harm or disrespect; I write this purely to show my love for the series (particularly Hartia) in my own special way - nothing more, nothing less.
> 
>  **SPOILER ALERT:** This fic is set during the time spent at Stephanie's apartment, just before the final showdown. If you haven't seen the whole series, please do not read this fic!
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Written way back in 2004. I've edited it slightly from the original version which used to be on my website (rephrased awkward sentences and such), but the storyline is the same.

Cleao's scream echoed through the silence, shattering it to pieces as her pitch got higher and more desperate. Orphen frowned from his comfortable position on the couch. He had been quite happy sitting there peacefully, watching Stephanie guide Majic through the process of making a gourmet dinner out of seemingly useless scraps.

There were words in amongst the moaning and wailing of the blonde girl outside - _Help me... Come quick..._ or something like that.  
_'She can't cook,_ ' Orphen thought angrily, _'And she can't even fetch some water for those who can, without turning it into some melodrama.'_

"Aren't you going to see what's wrong, Master?" The young blonde boy asked from the kitchen, his spoon frozen mid-stir as he stared out the window with a worried look on his effeminate features.  
Stephanie raised a disappointed eyebrow over her glasses. "He's got more important things to do - like sitting around, doing nothing."

_"Orphen! Majic! Anyone... Help!"_

"All right, I'm going!" The sorcerer stretched his arms above his head and stood up, scratching his lower back. "I suppose I'd better go see what she's done _this_ time."

Scouring the darkness, the yellow ripples of Cleao's flared skirt stood out against the black ground. She became more girl and less shadow as he stepped closer, now able to distinguish her long golden hair trailing down her back as she cradled something dark in front of her.

"Please!" She half screamed, half begged, raising her head like a wolfen howling at the moon. And then she bowed over, whispering. "You'll be okay..."

_'Is something wrong with Leki?'_

What made Orphen run to her side at once was the masculine moan that followed her comforting. Hartia's deep blue robes concealed him in the darkness, but the shock of scarlet hair Orphen could see over Cleao's shoulder was enough to move the sorcerer into action.

"Hartia..." He knelt opposite Cleao, taking the red-haired sorcerer's hands in his.  
"I'm sorry, Krylancelo..." The injured man slurred as blood bubbled up from his throat and poured out of his mouth. "I know you never wanted to see me again, but I didn't have anywhere else to go."  
"Don't worry about that now." Orphen soothed, his heart being consumed by a barrage of guilty spikes. "Let's get you inside."

His arm carefully replaced Cleao's around Hartia's shoulders, while his other hooked under his friend's knees. Cleao could do little more than wring her hands with worry as Orphen rose to his feet and carried Hartia's limp body back to Stephanie's apartment. Right now, it didn't even matter that her pretty sun dress was splattered and stained with blood.

After the initial shock of seeing the unconscious man in Orphen's arms, Stephanie was quick to retrieve some bandages from her cupboard, dumping them beside her bed and guiding her ex-partner to lie Hartia down gently.

"You know as well as I do that your healing magic will work much better on bare skin. So we must get his clothes off." She ordered coldly and methodically, starting to unclip his shin-length coat herself when she received no response from Orphen. "Come on! I won't think of you as any less of a man for doing so."  
"It's not _that_!" The dark-haired sorcerer snapped back, unfastening Hartia's necklace in attempt to show his masculinity wasn't threatened by the thought of undressing another man - Stephanie, _of all people_ , should have known he had done it before. It had only happened once when they were both very drunk... _Okay, and a couple of times sober, too - but now is not the time to reminisce!_

"We've been friends since we were kids... I can't stand to see him hurt like this."  
"If you choke, he will die!"

Cleao let out a soft cry from the corner of the room, watching as the other three fussed around the bed, stripping the occupant of his battered and torn garments. It was her fault Hartia was hurt. She looked down sadly, to the flash of silver and blue tucked safely in the fold of her cleavage. If she had just taken the jewel when he had first offered it to her...

She wanted to do more, but realised she would only get in the way if she tried. _That_ , and her decency told her to look away the moment he eyes caught a sliver of Hartia's naked body.

"Oh, Master..." Majic murmured in disbelief at the extent of Hartia's wounds.  
His chest had taken the full impact of an intense magical blast, but it had been clumsy and poorly aimed, sending haphazard sparks out to lash his arms, legs and face.  
Orphen pulled his gloves' wristbands further up his forearm and shook the tension out of his shoulders.  
"I want you all out of the room while I do this." The way he said it commanded an instant response from his company - they left with no argument, presumably to continue cooking dinner from the room behind the closed door.  
He closed his eyes and silently summoned the energy he needed. It came to him in the form of a pale blue aura, enveloping his entire body. "By the power of the light, may your wounds be healed..."

His outstretched hands glowed over Hartia's gory, burnt flesh, and he scowled as he forced the energy out of his palms to do his bidding. The pretty redhead's spine arched up in agony, his eyes shooting open as he let out a scream not unlike the one that had been drawn out of him whilst acquiring his injuries (magical wounds were always harder and more painful to heal than physical wounds). And just as suddenly, he was calm and silent again, only now he was conscious, staring about the room as if trying to place where he was.  
"Krylancelo...?" His hands were madly patting the area beside him, searching for something - _anything_ \- to cover his apparent nudity. Finding a loose edge of a sheet, he quickly pulled it over his thighs and up to his stomach.

Orphen sat on the bed, brushing rogue carmine strands away from Hartia's face. "I've healed you all that I can right now. Your body will have to take care of the rest on its own."

"Krylancelo..."  
The sorcerer feathered soft fingertips over his friend's parted lips. "Don't worry, I would _never_ let anything happen to you."  
Dark brown eyes from a tanned face locked with pale brown eyes staring at him from a freckled face.  
"Thank you..." Hartia's mouth made the motions, but a not a sound was made - and Orphen understood.  
"Let's get you patched up, Scarlet."

Hartia propped himself up on his elbows to allow his friend to wind a bandage around his chest and up over his shoulder to keep it in place. No words were spoken between them. Orphen was trying his hardest to keep focused on his present task, and not think of Azalie - and how she could stoop so low as to attempt to murder the fun-loving boy she and Orphen had grown up with.

He ran a strong hand up and over Hartia's forehead, holding his fringe out of the way and planting a kiss in the centre. "There. A kiss always makes things better."  
He quickly continued to wrap the gauze around Hartia's head, like a medicinal bandanna. The redhead smiled at the gesture.  
"Thanks, _Mum_." He joked to hide the awkwardness he was feeling. It had been five long years since Orphen had last kissed him, and even the simple, friendly peck on his forehead was enough to awaken teenage memories of the feelings he had experienced during those late nights back at the Tower... Back when Krylancelo and he shared a bed chamber, and one would sneak into the other's bed after curfew so the pair could indulge in hot, open-mouthed kisses - practising, they would say, for when they would meet a pair of beautiful girls.

But Hartia never found a beautiful girl - he did not want one. He had always wanted the boy who had taught him how to touch and kiss her... the boy who had almost taken their make-out session too far one night.

_Young bodies ground together through green robes. Hartia was pinned beneath his dominant friend, as their hormonal curiosity began to grow into something far deeper. No longer were they merely perfecting techniques - they were completely aware they were kissing and touching **each other** ; and enjoying it all the more because of that._

_"Krylancelo..." Hartia moaned, feeling the other boy's hand sliding under his robe and up his thigh._  
_"Shh..." His friend soothed. "You'll like this, I promise."_  
_His hand crept higher, veering to the side at it reached the top of his leg, daring to brush lightly against his penis._  
_"Krylancelo!"_

 _At the sound of his shriek, Krylancelo's other hand slapped across Hartia's mouth. "Shut up! Do you want us to get caught?"_  
_He shook his head under the silencing hand, but it was too late. Dim candlelight appeared underneath the door to their room, becoming brighter as the door creaked open to reveal the silhouette of their master._  
_"Is everything all right in here?" He asked in his deep, velvet voice._  
_"Yes, Master." The pair of adolescent voices answered together, with Krylancelo's breaking away to explain. "Hartia was having a nightmare."_  
_The redhead gave a forced smile. "But I'm okay now."_  
_Childman nodded, not believing it, but in no mood to question it. "Try to get some sleep." He advised as he turned to leave, closing the door behind him._

 _"Well done, Hartia." Krylancelo spat sarcastically, throwing back the covers and stepping out of his friend's bed._  
_"I..." The other boy reached out to touch the departing body. "I didn't mean to... it's just that you've never touched me like that before. I got scared."_  
_"Haven’t you done enough talking?" Came the muffled grumble of a dejected lover as Krylancelo rolled over and snuggled into his own blankets, leaving Hartia to stare at the ceiling with eyes full of regretful tears._  
_"...Krylancelo?"_  
_"Shut up and go to sleep."_

Hartia snatched his hand away as Orphen bowed his head to kiss the wound on it.  
"Please don't do this to me." He whispered through his tight throat.  
A warm hand sought the back of his neck, as the sorcerer replied to his plea with a soft kiss to the laceration across his throat.  
"Krylancelo... don't..."  
Another kiss followed, with looser, wetter lips. "I thought I was going to lose you."  
"Please stop..." His voice was desperate, not out of fear that Orphen would force him into something he didn't want to do, but that what Orphen wanted him to do wouldn't be enough. "You don't know how much I cried when you left me..."

He was being guided down against the mattress; his hands half-heartedly outstretched to push Orphen away; his head turned to the side so he would not have to look at the man he loved so much... the man who had broken his heart... as the shower of kisses continued over his neck, his jaw, his collar bones.  
Hartia may have said 'no', but Orphen knew from experience that he never meant it. It was only after he heard the first sniffle, and felt the first spasm of a deep sob wrack his friend's fragile body, that he stopped.  
"Hartia? What's wrong?"  
"If only you had healed my heart when you healed my body... maybe then it wouldn't hurt so much when you leave me again."  
Orphen laid his head down against the bandaged chest beneath him. "I never meant to hurt you. I... I didn't even realise I _had_."

"You were the first - _the only_ \- person I've ever loved. And you left me like I was nothing to you! Now you want me to accept you back like it never happened? Like I never cried for weeks after I found out you'd run away? You didn't even say goodbye-"  
Orphen angrily cut him off. "You always knew where I was - and it's not like you never got to see me again."

 _"Whatever are you crying for, Hartia?"_  
_Childman's young student looked up from his tear-soaked hands, swallowing a painful sob in order to appear more in control of his emotions than he was. "Nothing, Master."_  
_"I know you miss him, but you would be wise to move on without him."_  
_"I can't."_  
_Childman nodded knowingly. "We all have to make sacrifices for love."_

_Love..._

_Hartia blanched at the word. Childman **knew**. And he of all people understood the pain of having to observe love from far away, never being able to touch... A steel, emotionless face in Azalie's presence could hide what the clenched fists at his sides could not._  
_He wanted Hartia to forget... so that he would not suffer like he did - every painful second of every agonising day without **her**._

_And Hartia **did** convince him over the subsequent weeks, that he had left his love behind... and perhaps in those moments spent away from watching the rebel sorcerer with his master, he truly did forget how much he had loved him._

_But it always came back._

_Every time he looked at Krylancelo... how he had grown into such a handsome man... how he had so easily found new friends to replace those he had left behind..._

_The old feelings would never die._

_He would often find himself running his fingertips over his lips just to feel something like the kisses he had so looked forward to in his adolescence. His hands would trail down his body, trying to recreate Krylancelo's touch - even daring to slide beneath the waistband of his trousers and fondle himself in the manner his careless scream had put a stop to all those years ago._

He had spent years wishing for this moment - the moment Orphen wanted him back. As much as he wanted to throw himself into the dark sorcerer's arms and tell him how much he loved him - how much he had _always_ loved him - anger was the only clear emotion he could express. He didn't want to be hurt again... He didn't want to be used again.

Orphen raised his head, capturing the very same sad, scared eyes of the boy he had rejected, seemingly another age ago. "I'm sorry..."  
When those priceless words were uttered, Hartia's eyebrows relaxed into a look of surprise. Orphen never made apologies - he never believed he had to.

_After Krylancelo's disappearance, Hartia was moved from his old lonely room to share with Lai, a friendly green-haired youth majoring in the art of foresight at the Tower. He would sometimes catch the seer staring at him with a strange lop-sided smirk from across the room, and when questioned, he would simply answer "You think about him too much."_

_"Who?"_  
_"You know **exactly** who. He meant more to you than you meant to him - and you're wasting your time pining over him. We don't always get what we want..." He paused thoughtfully before smiling and adding, "And sometimes, we do."_  
_"All I want is one more night with him..."_  
_"And what would you do if you got that chance?"_  
_"I'd show him how much I love him."_  
_Lai nodded before he folded his arms and bowed his head, his robe's hood obscuring his face in shadow. It signalled the conversation was over - usually because he was going to say (or had already said) too much._

"Hartia... I never imagined that you thought those nights meant more than they did. I enjoyed doing all of those things with you... but my heart was never yours to have."

_Azalie._

The redhead frowned as his mind taunted him with the name. She had tried to kill him... and Orphen still loved her.  
"I know... I've always known..." He forced a grim smile. "But when I had you in my arms, I could imagine that for those moments you were mine. I love you, Krylancelo-"

To say Orphen felt uncomfortable with the confession was an understatement, but Hartia was determined to continue. He was past the hardest part, and he had said it with the very words he imagined he always would. They slid so easily from his tongue, that he barely knew his confession had started, let alone almost finished. Perhaps he would have stopped himself if he hadn't been inspired by Orphen's affection - affection that had arisen purely out of concern for a dear friend, nothing more.

"I've loved you since the first time I saw you."  
"It's the pain talking, old friend."

Orphen's lips were so close to Hartia's, his hot breath teasing them. The redhead parted them to give his defiant reply, but his words vanished as he tasted a hint of that sweet breath - leaving but a single name in his vocabulary.  
Their lips met, hushing the whispered 'Krylancelo...'

All the old feelings came back in a dizzying rush. Hartia's hand clamped onto the back of Orphen's head, pushing him deeper into the kiss. The duo of lips, teeth and tongues worked together in magnificent harmony - years of practise with one another ensured they would never forget how to please the other.

Just like one hundred times before, their bodies moulded together, moving and grinding their hips against each other, mimicking the last time they had done this - only now, they had the bodies of fully-grown men... the hunger of fully-grown men.  
A particularly vicious thrust against Hartia's mounting erection through all too flimsy sheets saw him cry out - first a breathless moan of desire, followed quickly by a yelp of pain as his injuries cruelly warned him not to overexert himself.

The kiss was over as he lurched forward, causing Orphen to roll off him as he grasped his wound. The dark-haired sorcerer was quick to lay his friend back down, comforting him by stroking the haphazard rows of bandages.  
"I can't do any more for the pain than what I've already done. Childman's magic is stronger than mine... I can't reverse it completely."  
"I know." Hartia whimpered, sitting his hand on top of the gloved hand caressing him.

"You should get some rest." Orphen advised coldly, as he got out of the bed. It was as if the kiss had never happened. "I don't want to make your injuries worse than they already are."  
"Krylancelo, wait!" The bed's sole occupant gritted his teeth as he bolted upright to reach out to his friend. "I'm fine. Really."  
"You're in _agony_ , Hartia! Sleep for a bit."

_And just like that, Orphen could abandon him again..._

"No." He answered, his desperation obvious. "I don't want to lose this moment. Please... finish what we started so long ago..."  
But Orphen had already closed the door on his way out.

From the other room, the muffled sounds of the conversation Orphen was having with Cleao, Majic and Stephanie had already begun.

_"He'll be fine once he's had a rest."_

_"What are we going to do about Azalie?"_

 

Even her very name incited arguments... the woman who would have gladly seen Hartia dead. He could hear Stephanie's strong voice versing Orphen's in a battle over Azalie's integrity, whilst Cleao and Majic were strangely silent.

He rolled over onto his side, groaning and holding his wound as he did so. It was the first time he had been alone with his thoughts since the encounter with the false Childman. His memory had suppressed the attack itself; but he could remember desperately limping to the Transport, his splayed hands pressed to his chest as rivers of blood poured from his injuries. There had been so much blood... When he took one hand away to wave the device into activation, he could feel his consciousness slipping from his grasp. The next thing he knew, he was in Cleao's arms, looking up at his beloved Krylancelo.

He found himself worrying about Lai. Was his bound body safe wherever Azalie had left him? Or had she disposed of him completely whilst he was powerless to put up a fight? Hartia had never yearned for more power than he had, despite always being second-best to Orphen, but he wished he could borrow a pinch of Lai's psychic ability for just a moment to know if his friend was all right.

All he had was the vision of the agony and the betrayal the seer felt, written all over his handsome features captured in the crystal shards which had broken from his frozen body...

Whatever he had said or done to spark Azalie's fury, he did not deserve to be bound like that. He never overstepped his boundaries and lived his life in seemingly happy submission. What had he seen?

"Lai!" Hartia cried out, bolting upright, instantly awake from a sleep he did not realise he had fallen into. His wounds, no longer silenced by blissful unconsciousness, screamed at him to lay back down - and he had no choice but to obey.

The candle by his bed had been snuffed and there was no light coming in from under the door, meaning the rest of the house had retired whilst he slept.

Summoning what strength he had, he managed to conjure a small healing spell to temporarily take some of the sting out of his pain, but little else. He climbed out of bed and located his coat with the guidance of the silver moonlight streaming in from the window. Slipping it on, and clipping together the clasps from his waist down (in case Cleao was still wandering around), he opened the door slightly and peered out.

In the room outside, lit by a dying candle, Orphen and Majic were slumped over opposite armrests of one of the couches there, whilst Stephanie lay sleeping across the other. Hartia assumed that Cleao was in another, more comfortable room - away from the snoring.

Orphen's dreams were plagued with sexual frustration. He groaned and shifted in his awkward sleep as visions of what he _could_ have done, _should_ have done, and _did_ do to Hartia, played before his eyelids.  
There was no denying the stupid little red-haired kid he once knew had matured into one of the most enchanting creatures he had ever laid eyes upon - but it was _Hartia_! Thinking about him like _that_ was just wrong.  
Yes, it had been fun making out with him in the past, and even more so for the brief recapitulation they'd shared several hours ago. He was a fantastic kisser, with a body to match... and as much as Orphen did not want to admit it, the mere thought of how much Hartia wanted him was driving him mad. _That_ , and he hadn't taken someone to his bed for weeks.

Hartia was willing - _a little **too** willing_ \- but most importantly, _there_. It would save Orphen the hassle of going through the messy seduction of a complete stranger. He shuffled himself about his end of the couch again. He _really_ needed a good lay! It would take his mind off Azalie, if nothing else.

Creeping over to the sleeping sorcerer, Hartia knelt in front of him and woke him with a gentle touch to his knee.  
"Hartia!?" He hissed angrily. "Go back to bed!"  
"I was hoping that perhaps you'd join me? There's plenty of room." He nodded toward the blonde boy nuzzling into the armrest. "And it's cruel to let Majic sleep like that."  
"Don't tell me how to look after my own apprentice! He'll sleep any way I want him to."  
"Is there anything I can do to make you change your mind?"  
Orphen raised an eyebrow. "This isn't about Majic at all, is it?"  
"It's about both of you. You're going to have _the worst_ backaches tomorrow." He gave the leather-clad thigh before him a squeeze. "The offer is there, if you want it, Krylancelo. I don't mind sharing... it'd be like the old days."

Orphen ran his gloved hand through Hartia's shoulder-length hair, curling the ends around his fingers, and then starting the process all over again.  
"It won't be... It _can't_ be like the old days."  
His friend closed his eyes. Even when he was happy, he looked sad. When he was sad, he looked completely tragic. "Then... before you shoot my courage down completely, I have something to give you."

He leant forward as his left hand braced his weight on Orphen's thigh, and rubbed his other hand against the already throbbing warmth of the man's groin. Orphen had intended to push Hartia away, but his hand froze mid-transit as the redhead bowed his face to the object of his affection and began to tease it with light nips through the leather restraining it.

"Oh, Scarlet, would you?" He gasped, frightened by how arousing he found the sight of his friend kneeling between his legs.  
Hartia looked up, half his pretty face obscured by shadows, the other half lit by flickering candlelight. "I would do _anything_ for you."  
"Stop saying things like that!"  
"Please, Krylancelo... I know that you will never feel the same way about me as I do about you, but would you give me the chance to show you just _how_ much I love you? That's all I want."

Stephanie's eyes cracked open at the sound of Orphen's zipper being drawn down, slowly in an attempt to make it quieter, but only succeeding in making it louder. She frowned under her mop of unruly blue hair, wondering whether to put a stop to the pair adjacent her, or to give Orphen a fiery talking-to afterwards.  
She did not know anything about Hartia apart from the vague things Orphen had mentioned about his past. He did not seem like the aggressive type, but to be safe and to avoid bringing Majic into the situation beside him that he was blissfully unaware of, she chose to remain silent until later.

She could not get back to sleep - it was impossible to when all she could hear was Orphen's gasps and hushed moans over Hartia's constant kissing, sucking and gurgling. It reminded her of the old days, when she had been in Hartia's role, indulging Orphen in much the same way he was now.

"Uhh... Take it all..." The sorcerer's voice from the present melded with Stephanie's memory of it in the past. In sex, he was as furious as he was in battle.  
Hartia made some sort of choked cry. Stephanie imagined it was probably out of shock. From what she could see of him, he did not look like he had much, if _any_ , experience in oral pleasures.

Hartia swirled his tongue around the darkening head of Orphen's penis, his hand pumping back and forth, and then slowly, purposefully forced the tip of his tongue into the tiny slit at the end. Orphen's breath caught in his throat, unable to utter anything other than choked whimpers as the tongue's ever so slight movements against the sensitive opening sent wave after wave of ecstasy through him.

He moaned as Hartia stopped, slapping his hand over his mouth as Majic stirred beside him.  
"Hartia, you son of a bitch, you're going to wake everyone up!"  
"I'm not the one making all the noise!" He hissed back, reminiscent of their childish arguments back at the Tower.

He bowed his head to lap at the viscous trail of pre-ejaculate winding its way around the network of throbbing veins stretching at the skin of the dark-haired sorcerer's painfully rigid shaft, down to meet his hand.

Orphen's fist balled into Hartia's hair, grabbing a painful handful of crimson strands and forcing the man to finish his teasing. Hartia's warm mouth encased him again, sliding up and down his length with innocent, yet masterful suction - never having done anything like this before, he was driven entirely by how much he wanted to please Orphen. Differing pitches of moans and hisses were his guides. How tightly Orphen pulled at his hair, and how hard he thrust forward became blinding lights telling him he was doing well.

Stephanie watched the entire performance through her veil of long blue hair. She wasn't wearing her glasses, but the three humanoid blurs before her were _quite_ enough. Her eyes flicking back and forth between Majic, who was still sound asleep; and the pair beside him, completely oblivious to anyone else's existence.  
The boy could sleep through an earthquake! Orphen bucked into Hartia's rhythm, causing the springs of the couch beneath him to squeak in protest, as he expelled the fruits of his friend's labour. His hands were like a vice, gripping either side of Hartia's head, holding him in place to accept what he had worked so hard for.

The redhead did not know what to expect. All he knew was when Orphen climaxed, he would swallow it down, without question - no matter what it tasted like. When it happened, it seemed to him like the most natural thing in the world to do. This was his friend's love - in a form that he could keep forever.

Orphen was pulling him away from his spent penis. It was over already?

He wiped his chin with his fingers, and sucked the creamy residue from them - carefully, slowly... as if he dared not waste a single drop. Orphen bit his lip to stop himself from crying out in appreciation at the erotic display. Hartia licked his smiling lips and looked up at his superior.  
"I always wondered what it would be like to do that to you. Thank you for letting me find out." He rose to stand, expecting nothing more, and began to walk away.

Orphen quickly zipped his pants back up. "Hartia!"  
"I'll be in here if you need me..." He murmured as he padded back to the bedroom.

"Shit!" Orphen spat under his breath, watching the door to that oh-so-tempting offer close. What lie behind it, he wanted so badly - not because he was willing to admit he had feelings for Hartia, but because he wanted more of that mind-numbing pleasure he had just been subjected to. It didn't matter who was giving it to him; he could easily close his eyes and imagine he was with someone else. Hartia made no secret of his desire to bed his childhood friend, and if Orphen took him up on the offer of a single night of meaningless sex, they would both get exactly what they wanted.

Hartia could moan and scream as much as he wanted as his dream finally came true... and Orphen, he could easily derive the pleasure he sought over and over again from that beautiful, tight body. He had almost convinced himself that it was the perfect win-win situation when his wrist was grabbed as he stood up.

"Orphen, don't." Stephanie cautioned him, rising to stand at her full, impressive height. "Could you live with yourself knowing you'd used your vulnerable friend for your own gratification?"  
"What are you - my conscience? And how long have you been awake?!"  
"It doesn't matter. What matters is that Hartia _loves_ you. If you dare touch him without even considering what he's going to read into it, then you're a lot more heartless than I've _ever_ given you credit for."  
"He wants it, Stephanie!" He angrily shook his hand free of her grasp.  
"But not the way you're going to give it to him. I've known your love, Orphen. And it was beautiful while it lasted... Don't tease him with something you're not prepared to let him have forever."  
"He _knows_ I don't love him."  
She slapped him. "Then stop acting like you do!"

He was taken aback by her reaction and her words, staring at her with vacant eyes.  
"Every time you let him touch you, and every time you touch him in return, you're giving him false hope. What happened a moment ago should never have happened - for a _lot_ of reasons, and not just because I saw _everything_. The moment you realised what he was going to do, was the moment you should have pushed him away!"  
"And miss out on _that_?" He joked sourly as he walked away. "You've got to be kidding!"  
"Orphen! Don't!"


	2. Chapter 2

_"You're thinking about him again."_

_"I am not!"_

_"Don't lie to me, Hartia. I **know**.”_

_"It's none of your business."_

_"But it **is** my business when I have to watch a dear friend waste his life away, waiting for a dream."_  
_"Shut up, Lai!" Hartia shakily rubbed his eyes. "Just because we share a room doesn't give you the right to get inside my head whenever you feel like it!"_  
_"I'm worried about you." The psychic murmured, his voice full of the concern he spoke of. He moved across the room like a ghost, with his dark blue robe fluttering around him; and sat beside Hartia, putting his arm around him._  
_"Well, don't be. I don't need your pity."_  
_Lai's other arm reached across the pair, stroking Hartia's face and guiding him to lean against his shoulder. "It's not pity. I care about you... and I don't want to see you get hurt."_  
_"Then tell me what happens?"_

_Tell him it would never work out, no matter how hard he threw himself at Krylancelo? Lai wanted to, but he knew better than to interfere with a lesson that had to be learned physically._

_Once, it may have seemed to all the world that young Krylancelo and Hartia shared not only a room, but a brain as well. Their collective life had forked the moment Azalie transformed herself into the Bloody August; and without each other's constant influence, the boys grew into two very different people - neither compatible for the other, as much as Hartia would have liked to think otherwise._

_"I'm shown only what I am allowed to see... I don't know **everything** that happens, and it would be wrong of me to make something up to please you. I'm not some side-show fortune-teller."_  
_"I'm sorry... I didn't mean-"_  
_"It's all right."_

_He held the young redhead in his arms and sighed sadly. If there was such thing as loving someone **too** much, Hartia's blind, unquestioned love for Krylancelo was a prime example. It was dangerous to have such intense emotions focused entirely on one person... especially when there was no chance that person would ever feel the same way in return._

"Are you awake?" The shadowy figure whispered from the doorway.  
"...Krylancelo?" Hartia rolled over to face him. "I didn't think you'd come."  
"I plan to do a lot more than just that."  
The man in bed blushed the colour of his hair. "Am I dreaming?"  
"It was either this, or thinking about Azalie all night." Orphen wanted to hit himself after he said it. He could hear Hartia's breath catch in his throat. He had not meant to say it so harshly. "Hartia... I-"  
"I'm flattered that you chose me. I know how you feel about her."

"And you still want me to take your virginity?"  
"You love her, and yet you're willing to take it?"  
Orphen huffed in frustration. "Don't play with me, Scarlet."  
"There isn't anyone in the entire world who I would rather offer it to." Came the reply, seductive not only in its words, but in its innocence as well.

Orphen stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight which spilled across the room. His dark eyes locked onto his target as he moved closer, stripping himself of his jacket and throwing it carelessly to the side.

Kneeling on the soft mattress, he took off his shirt and tossed it aside also, baring his beautifully sculpted torso. The hills and vales of flesh were accented by moonlight hitting sweat, making Hartia gasp in admiration.

Hot, anxious breaths and the squeak of tight leather were the only sounds, it seemed, in the entire universe, as Orphen crawled forward and planted a soft, almost chaste kiss on the redhead's lips. His body, however, said otherwise, as his knee pushed against Hartia's thighs, silently asking him part his legs - which he did, allowing the knee to rub against his groin. Hartia threw his arms around Orphen's neck in a loose embrace, moaning in anticipation as he was pushed onto his back, with his dark lover lying on top of him.

Their kiss became more passionate than any of its predecessors. Hartia was only too willing to allow Orphen's tongue complete access to every millimetre of his mouth, bringing his own tongue out to coil around and dance with its hungry twin. He could feel a strong hand grip his face, his jaw resting in its palm while his ear was flanked by its thumb and forefinger - holding him exactly where Orphen wanted him to drive the kiss deeper.

Orphen's other hand ran up the side of Hartia's bent leg, daring to slide under the bunched up sheet and grope at the man's soft buttocks. His fingertips brushed over the inviting rift, slipping one just a little deeper to tease his already aroused lover. Hartia's breath caught in his throat as he squirmed against him, not knowing whether he loved or hated what Orphen was doing to him.

"Get the sheet out of the way." The dark-haired sorcerer slurred into his kiss.  
Hartia was quick to obey the order, yanking it from between them and grinding against the bulge struggling against the opening of Orphen's desperately tight leather pants.

Blindly, Hartia's hands went to liberate Orphen's aching erection from its prison, his desperation causing his fingers to fumble at the seemingly impossible zipper several times before succeeding in opening it. A duo of moans in perfect harmony fell from the lips of the men as their engorged members touched for the first time.

"Oh god, Hartia... you're so hot..." Orphen hissed, thrusting against his friend as if already in the midst of intercourse.  
The redhead gripped the strong shoulders heaving above him. "Please, Krylancelo-"  
"Orphen."  
The friction felt so good against his masculinity, Hartia was barely aware of anything else. Thinking was something best left for when his top half was in control. What was Krylancelo talking about?

He was moving away! Hartia arched his back in an attempt to keep the contact for as long as possible, but it was no use.  
"If we do this, I want you to call me Orphen."

"I... No... I can't. I've never loved Orphen..." He reached up to stroke the retreating face. "Not the way I love Krylancelo."  
"Stop it!"

Hartia bit his lip. In all the years he had laid awake at night picturing the moment he and Krylancelo would make love, never once did he imagine himself crying out the name "Orphen".

 

_Krylancelo is dead! I'm Orphen!_

"Will you say it?"  
"Why are you doing this to me?!"

He sounded upset, although Orphen could not understand why. He could not understand that to Hartia, it was as if their foreplay had been one cruel joke; that his beloved Krylancelo had worked him into a state of total and utter desire, only to hand him over to someone else for the main event.

Orphen made no secret of his annoyance, frowning and cursing none too softly. Hartia lived on a completely different plane of existence to the rest of the world... some sort of weird, fantasy land - _what was the name of the Black Tiger's homeland again?_ \- but at least Orphen thought he _understood_ the man's complexities. His name shouldn't have made a difference. Wasn't his body what Hartia wanted?

Holding his wound, more to stop his heart from being wrenched out than to comfort the returning pain, Hartia struggled to sit up. "I can't do it... I _won't_ do it."  
"Hartia-"  
"When you renounced your name and abandoned me, _that_ is when you broke my heart! Krylancelo never hurt me as much as Orphen did."  
"I'm the same guy!" Orphen virtually screamed at him.  
Hartia looked away, sulking. "You don't understand."  
"Of course I don't!" The dark-haired man grabbed him by the chin and forced him to look him in the eye. "What the hell is wrong with you, Hartia?! You've been seducing me all night - my god, you practically _begged_ me to fuck you ten minutes ago - and now you're saying no, because after five long years, you still won't let Krylancelo die?"  
"I _will_ let him die..." The redhead murmured. "But let me have him for just a moment before I do? ...Please?"

 _"By the Heavenly Ones! Hartia, what happened?"_  
_Hartia looked up, a half-conjured healing spell glowing in the hand pressed to his swollen cheekbone._  
_"It wouldn't take a **psychic** to figure it out." He spat sourly. "Why? Why did you tell him?"_  
_"Master hit you?!"_  
_"Just answer the question, Lai."_  
_The man squared his shoulders and brushed a non-existent strand of green hair away from his visible eye. "I told him because I'm worried about your future... about your grades... and I'm worried about **you**. You won't listen to me - I had no choice but to tell Childman!"_  
_"Stay out of my affairs!" Hartia bellowed, his echo through the labyrinth of corridors beyond the open door sounding just as angry. It frightened him to hear his own voice sounding so cruel... so pained. But Lai deserved it, didn't he? "You think Krylancelo will never be mine?"_  
_"I never said that."_

 _Hartia ignored the remark and continued with his spell, gingerly touching the forming bruise as he experimented with the spell's intensity. "You'd better give your crystal ball another polish, because you're dead wrong. I love him too much to let him get away."_  
_"And I was just about to ask why Master would raise his hand to you." Lai countered with unusual sarcasm. "Hartia, can't you see your love for Krylancelo is poisoning you?"_  
_"Leave me alone."_

 _Whether Hartia wanted it or not, Lai was by his side. "Did he hit you hard? Let me see the damage."_  
_His hands felt so nice as they cupped his chin and tilted his face around so that the green-haired man could inspect what he already knew - Hartia's spell casting was as flawless as his freckled skin._  
_"No harder than I deserved for what I said." He managed to blink back his tears for a moment, but found himself sobbing as he sank into Lai's embrace, wrapping his arms loosely around his friend's waist. "Help me, Lai..."_  
_"I wish I could..." The seer whispered, stroking Hartia's silky red hair as he rocked him like a baby in his arms. "I wish I could."_

Orphen frowned. Hartia was as stubborn as he was arousing.

He finally answered in the form of a kiss, soft yet passionate, as he laid Hartia back down.  
"Okay... just for tonight."  
"Thank you, _Krylancelo_."

The redhead's injuries were hurting so much, but he dared not voice his agony lest his lover turned into his healer once again. Orphen's hand was roaming his bandaged chest, running down his side. His touch alone had healing properties - making Hartia forget how much he hurt, and replacing it with the desire to be touched even more.

His hand continued down past the bandages, back onto flesh, moulding to the slight curve of Hartia's hips...  
"Don't scream this time." He warned with a smile, wrapping his hand around the rigid endowment Hartia's adolescent self would have only dreamed of possessing.

He _wanted_ to scream from the sheer pleasure of Orphen's touch; but his throat would only allow a stifled moan to escape. Alternating loose and firm grips, the dark sorcerer moved his hand up and down - pumping Hartia's length in time with the redhead's desperate thrusts.  
"Krylancelo..."

Orphen hated that name. He hated hearing it, and most of all, he hated answering to it. But it was what Hartia wanted - _needed_ \- if he was ever going to let him go.

"Ahh! Krylancelo!" Hartia's hand dropped to his crotch, wrapping around Orphen's fist in the hope of influencing him to go harder... faster.  
The dark sorcerer's own need pushed against his lover's thigh, demanding satisfaction - and soon. He smacked the intruding hand away. "Don't you trust me?"  
"I would trust you with my life... but please don't make me wait any longer."

Orphen was pretty sure if he rummaged through the chest of drawers beside the bed, he would find a tube of lubricant. But the thought of going through Stephanie's lacy underwear was unnerving, to say the least. It was bad enough being in her bed, with its soft satin sheets that smelled of her floral perfume.

Besides, apart from being completely unorthodox, it would be simple spell to cast.

"May you feel nothing but pleasure..." Orphen whispered the incantation as his two of his fingers sought deeper, their warm glow numbing any pain or discomfort their penetration might have otherwise caused.  
Hartia cried out, one hand clawing his lover's shoulder and the other balling into the sheet beneath him, as the man stretched and prepared his virgin opening.

"Is it hurting? Do you want me to stop?"  
"Please... don't stop... don't _ever_ stop..." He moaned in response, opening his legs wider and writhing against the intruding fingers like the whore he was determined to be for Orphen.

His erection was proud and painfully rigid. The inside of Orphen's forearm brushed against it as he moved his fingers in, out and around the tight ring of muscle which promised to give him so much empty pleasure - until he was sure Hartia felt ready. And the moan of disappointment as he drew away confirmed he was right.

Orphen lifted his friend's knees up, and guided him to wrap his legs around his waist. Hartia's lust-clouded eyes never left Orphen's. He was frightened, Orphen could tell, but he wanted this moment so much.  
"Are you sure?" He asked softly, moving back and forth ever so slightly to tease Hartia's opening with the tip of his swollen masculinity.  
The redhead nodded, unable to find the words to tell Orphen that he had been waiting five lonely years to hear that very question.

 _"Hartia, this has gone on long enough. Whatever you had with Krylancelo is over - it's been over for years! He's moved on, why can't you?"_  
_"I just can't."_  
_"...Because he never finished feeling you up five years ago?"_

_Golden brown eyes glared at him from under a mass of wild crimson hair. Despite having shared Lai's room for so long, it still unnerved him when the seer made casual comments about what others should not have known._

_Lai could not help seeing what he did; sometimes he did not even realise he was doing it. Other times he would do it on purpose to annoy Hartia... just to get something other than the name 'Krylancelo' out of his mouth. But this was not such a time._

_"It was more than that!" The redhead snapped back._  
_"For **you**."_  
_"I'm not asking for him to share my feelings. All I want is one more night with him... And yes, to finish what we started. He was going to be my first, and I was going to be his... if only I hadn't ruined it."_

_Lai nodded once and kept his head bowed. He had to end the conversation before he told Hartia too much._

Orphen's thumbs parted the flesh concealing his destination, and he slowly entered the tight cavern. Hartia forced himself to keep his eyes open, no matter how much his eyelids argued otherwise. He wanted to watch Orphen's face; to take in every frown of concentration, every smile of pleasure the man gave as they made love; to know it wasn't just another fantasy; to know Orphen was truly his for just this moment.

His body began to involuntarily fight against the invasion, squirming to get away from the spire slowly working its way deeper inside him. Orphen's strong hands gripped his waist to hold him still.  
"I know, baby, I know..." He soothed, remembering how unpleasant his own first time had been. "Just try to relax and enjoy it."

Hartia nodded timidly. He was embarrassed about his unwanted reaction. He was sure it looked like he had changed his mind - which was the last thing he wanted Orphen to think. But the dark sorcerer seemed to understand, stopping his descent and reaching up to stroke Hartia's flushed face.

His palm ran across the redhead's lips, and Hartia was quick to plant several desperate, loose kisses on the callused flesh. Orphen smiled, despite the anxiety in his loins; all but demanding he forget his friend's discomfort, and just pound him silly - which he wisely ignored.  
It was working; Hartia's muscles were beginning to loosen up.  
Orphen's hand moved to brace the back of his fragile lover's neck, guiding him into a kiss that would take his mind off everything but the serpentine tongue lashing out to taste him.

Without warning, the paler man's body gave up its resistance and allowed Orphen to push into him all the way. Breaking from the kiss, Hartia screamed out in a mixture of shock and ecstasy, throwing his head back and arching his spine further than his wounds were happy with.

"Krylancelo!!"  
Reminiscent of years long since passed, that same tanned hand slapped over his mouth to silence him.

Lying on the couch outside the room, Majic woke up with a start.  
"What was _that_?!" He asked softly to himself, not expecting an answer, but receiving one anyway.  
"It's nothing." Stephanie muttered from the other couch.  
"Where's Master?"  
"He's with Hartia." She sounded annoyed. "So stretch out and go back to sleep, Majic."  
"Did something happen? Is Hartia all right?"  
"...I hope so."  
"Should I go see if I can do anything to help?"  
If she hadn't been so angry, Stephanie probably would have giggled. "No. No, I'm sure Orphen can handle whatever Hartia needs on his own." She assured the boy before rolling over and muttering to herself. "The selfish bastard that he is..."

"My god, you're noisy." Orphen scolded him playfully, hesitating as he took his hand away from Hartia's mouth. "...And so tight your ass should be outlawed."

All intentions to keep his eyes open were lost. Hartia found himself jamming his eyes closed, depriving himself of sight so that nothing would take away from feeling every glorious centimetre Orphen drew out and then pushed back in; and hearing the sounds of their bodies slapping together, barely audible over their combined moans and gasps.

Falling into a rhythm with his thrusts, the dark sorcerer bent over at the waist and linked fingers with Hartia, pinning his friend's hands above his head. Their lips found each other in the moonlight and expressed silently how much they were enjoying what the other's body had to offer.

As the kiss deepened, Orphen closed his eyes... and saw _her_.

Those slender fingers locked between his could have easily been hers. The shoulder-length hair that tickled his face and neck was so easy to imagine purple instead of red... He found his hand grabbing at the leg wrapped around his waist, running his fingers roughly up and over the slight curves of Hartia's body; whilst his mind filled in the voluptuous curves of Azalie.

The feel of her hips, the indent of her waist... her soft torso, and her bosom... His hand groped at Hartia's disappointingly flat chest, and at once Orphen's fantasy ended.

How could he do this to Hartia?! No matter how noble he had made himself out to be in front of Stephanie, it didn't change the fact that he was fucking Hartia for his own selfish reasons. He had taken his friend's virginity - his sweet, innocent friend who loved and trusted him - because he needed some relaxation to take his mind off Azalie. Stephanie was right - it should not have been like this.

"Hartia... I'm sorry."  
Their eyes met in the moonlight - Orphen's pained, Hartia's confused.  
"For what?"  
There were no words spoken, only gasps and moans as their bodies demanded several violent thrusts together, before Orphen could finally answer.

_'I'm sorry... I was just wishing you were Azalie? Damn it, Orphen! That's just it, you're **not** sorry - you **do** wish he was Azalie! I'm sorry... it was a mistake to fuck you? Something that feels like this is **no** mistake! You son of a bitch, why do you have to be so damned gorgeous?!'_

"Never mind..."

Hartia's injuries were hurting so much as his body was pushed and pulled, twisted and folded to accommodate Orphen's sexual prowess. He held back his cry to stop for as long as he could. His dream was falling apart before his very eyes... He knew his first time would hurt, but he never expected to be riddled with injuries for it.

"Kry...lan...ce...lo...?" He whimpered into the tanned flesh of Orphen's shoulder rubbing against his face.  
"Hnn?"  
He tried to turn onto his side to stop his body from being bent in the ways which hurt him the most. Orphen smiled. A change of position? How unlike Hartia to be so bold! He withdrew for a moment to help flip Hartia onto his stomach, guiding the redhead to bend his knees and elevate his delectable rear for Orphen to plunge back into.

It felt so good! For both of them. Hartia cried out a garbled stream of incomprehensible words and moans, his fists clawing into the sheets beneath him. Whatever he was saying, by the sheer ecstasy in his voice, Orphen took it as approval to go faster.

One hand gripped the redhead's waist, the other sought his dangling masculinity, capturing it in a firm grasp and pulling it in time with his thrusts. Hartia whimpered for release, pushing himself back into Orphen's steady pounding.

The pace grew faster and faster, the pair connecting with each other with a force that would see Hartia unable to walk properly the next morning. Taking his hand from the slender waist of his lover, Orphen grabbed the man's shoulder, forcing him down against the pillows. His hair was wet and matted, sticking to his face and tickling his gaping mouth; his bandages felt soggy with sweat as it ran down his body in salty rivers - things that would usually be uncomfortable were all but forgotten.

"Krylancel- _Ohhh!_ " He couldn't see him, but Orphen was making very sure Hartia could _feel_ him everywhere that mattered.  
The dark sorcerer let out a triumphant moan and pushed harder and faster, striking the place deep inside his pale lover that made Hartia howl with rapture again and again - until he could take no more and climaxed into Orphen's hand, sending warm streaks down his belly and splatters across the sheets below.

Hearing the sweet cries of his old name intermingled with a language that can only be spoken by those experiencing elysium, was enough to take Orphen over the edge - spilling himself into the beautiful redhead beneath him with several quick jolts.

And it was over. Hartia slumped into the mattress, struggling to catch his breath.  
"I have to get hurt more often..." He slurred into the pillow, making Orphen laugh as he lay down beside him.

 

* * * * *

"Rise and shine, sleepyheads!" Cleao sang as she burst through the door to the bedroom.  
She smiled at the sight within - Hartia's head rested on his friend's chest, his visible hand splayed across the opposite pectoral; whilst Orphen's arms where wrapped about Hartia's bandaged shoulders.

The dark-haired of the pair stirred at the intrusion, quick to hide his initial shock of waking up with Hartia in his arms. Their night together came back to him in an instant, making his lips curl ever so slightly. Hartia... he may have been a complete idiot, but he was also a fantastic fuck. Orphen could not remember the last time he had woken up feeling so exhausted, yet so exhilarated at the same time.

The redhead's eyes cracked open and his first reaction was to tear himself away in the hope Cleao had not seen anything, but Orphen's embrace tightened, silently ordering him to stay where he was.

"Aww, you're just like a couple of little kids, cuddled up together like that-" Cleao stopped and frowned. "This isn't some sort of perverted thing, is it?"  
The desire to lean over and kiss Hartia with a passion to rival that of the previous night and prove Cleao's suspicions correct, was only outweighed by the desire to yell at her.  
"Jealous, are we?"  
"That isn't funny, Orphen!"

Hartia made the first move to get up, pushing himself off Orphen's chest, and clutching at his wounds as the movement stirred them into hurting once again.  
"Are you all right?" Orphen and Cleao asked in unison.  
"Yes, I'm fine." He didn't believe it himself, and the others had no reason to either.

"You need more rest. I'll try another healing spell." The sorcerer beside him offered, sitting up with him and casting a narrowed stare at the girl in the doorway. "If _you_ don't mind?"  
Cleao, surprisingly, took the hint. "Well, don't be too long, Stephanie's making breakfast. We have a big day ahead."

"You don't know the half of it..."  
As the door closed behind her, Orphen's arms were immediately around Hartia's fragile form. The redhead's breathing was erratic and pained.  
"You don't have to do this..." He whispered in a laboured voice.  
"Do what?"  
His voice cracked into sobs. "Hold me like you care."  
"But I do care... very much, old friend."

_'Old friend. That's all I ever was, and all I will ever be to you.'_

Their lips were touching before either could pull away. Orphen's tongue ran across the sweet lips of his friend, silently asking permission to enter - which Hartia gave instantly. Their tongues touched for a moment, almost warily, just like their first kiss so very long ago. It was the perfect ending.

_'Goodbye, Krylancelo...'_

Hartia felt the warm glow of his handsome saviour's spell spreading out in hand-shaped patterns across his back.  
"By the power of the light-"  
"Don't." The redhead pulled away. "Save your strength for Azalie."

Saying those words hurt more than his wounds.

"Thanks, Hartia."  
Orphen laid his friend back down and got out of the bed, quickly grabbing his crumpled clothes from the floor and throwing them onto his toned, tanned body. Hartia watched him, smiling in admiration as leather pants moulded to every bump and curve of Orphen's lower half; his old grey shirt thrown over his amazing torso and hastily tucked into the waistband of his pants. That perfect body, now hidden, had finally been his...

"Wish me luck." Orphen said as he parted the curtains to the bedroom's small window and began to climb out.  
"Good luck... Orphen."


	3. Chapter 3

"Don't you ever think about _anything_ else?" The playful sarcasm stirred Hartia from his daydream.  
"Lai? I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there."  
"It's all right. I've never been able to compete with Krylancelo for your attention."  
Hartia smiled sadly, his hand absent-mindedly playing with the silver medallion pinned to the shoulder of his robe. "I was just thinking how much I miss him... For once, in all the years I've known him, I have absolutely no idea where he is right now."

Lai drew a breath to answer, but was cut off before he could begin.  
"No, don't tell me." Hartia's voice sounded forced as he raised his hand. "I think it would be best if I didn't know."

There was an awkward silence. The pair had never really spoken about anything other than the rebel sorcerer before.

"Childman's robes really suit you." Lai offered in an attempt to start a new conversation.  
Hartia looked down at himself, very uncomfortable in the layers of dark blue fabric. "...I don't do them justice."  
"The Elders would not have allowed you to succeed him if they didn't think you were worthy."

"Oh, Lai..." The redhead sighed, "What am I going to do without him?"  
The corner of the psychic's lips curled up in a wry smile. "We're not talking about Childman, are we?"  
The newly promoted teacher bowed his head. "No, I guess we're not."  
Lai stepped forward and embraced him around the waist, surprised when Hartia returned the gesture by wrapping his arms around the shorter man's shoulders.

They held each other in silent reflection for so long, neither wishing to break away and leave the other wanting more. Hartia held onto Lai with a grip that told the seer exactly how much he missed Orphen. His fists curled into his friend's robe, threatening to tear it from his very back if he held on any tighter.  
"Hartia, don't do this to yourself."  
"I can't help it... I want him so much."  
"You said you only wanted one night with him - and you got that."  
"It wasn't enough..." His voice deteriorated into ragged breaths. "I... _need_... him..."  
Lai ran a comforting hand through Hartia's hair. "Hush..."

Neither knew, nor cared, who initiated the kiss that followed. It just happened - and it was perfect. Hartia poured himself into the kiss, as if Lai's lips were the only thing in the world which had the power to make him forget Orphen. And Lai kissed him back with equal fervour, hoping to do just that.

"Let me show you what it feels like to be loved..." Lai whispered against Hartia's lips.  
The redhead could only nod and give a small, positive whimper in response.

Tongues meshed as awkward limbs twisted around and groped whatever they could in the flurry to get closer to each other. They were the same actions Hartia had performed with Orphen so many times before, but they had never felt like _this_. Hartia was submissive to Orphen's dominance - and Orphen always made certain of it. Lai didn't push, he _guided_ \- letting Hartia know, with his touch alone, that he could and _would_ stop, if he were asked.

But Hartia didn't ask him to stop, nor did it seem he was going to - until there was a knock at the door, followed by a forced cough. The pair broke away from each other and looked at the third person in their company.

"Master? I hope I'm not disturbing you."  
To Majic, the circumstance in which he found his new master left little to be explained. He was just thankful he had chosen _not_ to stop and talk to Eris on his way up to the room. Judging by the intensity of the kiss, what he may well have walked in on several minutes later was limited only by how dirty his imagination could be.

Lai excused himself to the far corner, where he stood like so many of the Tower of Fang's statues.

"Of course not, Majic. What seems to be the problem?" Hartia tried his best to sound calm as he smoothed out the creases down the front of his robes.  
"I was just thinking about..." The blonde boy fidgeted nervously. "About..."  
"...About Orphen?"

Their green-haired observer looked up from under his shadowy hood. Majic and Hartia were bad for each other - one kept reminding the other of the man they were both blatantly obsessed with.

"I miss him so much, Master."  
"As do I, Majic..." Hartia nodded sadly. "Perhaps some more practice would take your mind off him?"  
"But that's just it, Master - I don't _want_ to forget him!"

Lai could see Hartia's guilty flinch as the boy's words struck a deep chord inside him.  
_'Don't do it...'_ He silently warned.

"Neither do I, but we must go on."  
"I know how much you loved him. I heard you that night at Stephanie's apartment..." Majic avoided eye contact as a deep blush stained his cheeks. "I never had sex with him, but I loved him all the same. I would never forget him, or try to _replace_ him."  
"It's not what you think." Even as Hartia said it, he knew it was an excuse he need not have wasted his breath upon. He had been caught kissing Lai with the same passion he would have surrendered to Orphen, if he had been there.  
"Master, I mean you no disrespect, and it is not my intention to judge you-"  
"Then don't!" The redhead snapped back, making Majic jump in fright. "What I do, and who I do it with, is no one's business but my own."

"Stop it - both of you!" Lai stepped between them. "Majic, why don't you go down to the training grounds and prepare for your lesson? Hartia will be with you in a moment."  
The student looked to his master, who nodded in agreement, and obediently did as he was told - adding up on the way out whether it was worth his hide if he got caught listening to the pair's conversation.

"I'm sorry I kissed you." Hartia began, before Majic had even closed the door behind him. "There. Is that what you want me to say?"  
"No." The green-haired man answered, calm as always. "I was actually hoping you weren't sorry. At least then I'd have some proof you were getting over him."  
"I shouldn't have done it, and it was wrong of me to bring you into my troubles."  
"Hartia, I've always listened to you when you've poured your heart out; I've always been there for you when you thought your troubles were too big to handle... What's so different this time?"  
"I've never kissed you before - _that's_ what's different!" He yelled back, gripping his forehead like he was in pain.

"It's not cheating if he's not your boyfriend, you know."  
"Don't make fun of me, Lai."  
"I would never do that! All I'm saying is that you don't have to dedicate your life to him. There are other options."

"Like, _you_?" Hartia pouted sourly. "If you'll excuse me, Majic is waiting."  
"Of course." Lai surrendered, knowing if he pushed the subject any further, he would only end up getting snide remarks in return. So he bowed his head and left the room in silence.

 

* * * * *

The psychic made his way through arched corridors, spiralling staircases, and finally out into the courtyard. He bit his bottom lip as he immersed himself in thought. He had done everything that he could for his friend, but perhaps sharing a passionate tongue kiss with him was taking things too far? The last thing Hartia needed was conflict added to his already out-of-control emotions.

Hugging his crystal ball to his chest, he sighed sadly. He was in no mood to divine anything, least of all his friend's path of mindless self-destruction, so he was content to dwell on what had just transpired. The kiss.

Hartia wasn't kissing him; he was kissing Orphen, as much as Lai wished otherwise. The passion, the want - it was all there in the movement of his sweet lips. Orphen would never have appreciated such things.

He sensed a presence approaching from behind him.  
"Lai?"  
"Krylancelo." He answered before his own name had completely left the lips of his company, not looking around.  
"Lai, I-"  
"Seeing him is only going to open old wounds - for both of you. You know that, don't you?"  
"I'm not here to see him." Orphen stated in a very matter-of-fact way, which Lai ignored, having already read the sorcerer's heart.  
"He loves you _very_ deeply."  
"I know."  
"No, Krylancelo." Lai rose to his feet. His height was not intimidating by anyone's standards, but the fierce look in his visible eye more than made up for it. "I don't think you do."  
Orphen shrugged. "He's had a thing for me for years. So what?"  
"And you took advantage of it when you slept with him! Do you have any idea what that meant to him?"

Orphen rolled his eyes and slapped his hand on his hip to accentuate his defiance. Lai and Stephanie would make a great pair - they could sit around all day deciding who he could sleep with and how he should live his life.

"Don't be like that." The soothsayer cautioned. "I _know_ what you're thinking, and I don't like it."  
"I really don't have to discuss any of this with you."  
"You're hurting him so much, and you don't even care!"  
"You're right." Orphen admitted angrily. " _I don't care_. All I care about right now is getting in and out of the library before Hartia sees me, if that's all right with you."

Orphen started off in the direction of the library, but Lai had not finished speaking.  
"Krylancelo!"  
"Back off, Lai!" He bellowed. "You expect me to feel guilty over something that wasn't my fault?! _He_ seduced _me_! I thought he understood that it meant nothing, but obviously, he didn't."

 

* * * * *

"You're the only one who truly understands me..." Hartia sighed, leaning against the stable doors as he closed them and hid himself from the rest of the world.

Majic's lesson had been as trying as ever, and all Hartia wanted to do was relax. He couldn't go back to the Tower just yet, not with Lai wanting to talk to him about their future beyond their kiss. For all Hartia knew, his psychic friend had probably already seen what was going to happen.

"I... I can't, Caroline." He murmured, running his fingertips over the bristly fur on his pet's snout. "Not with him. I love Krylancelo..."  
The bull roughly nuzzled into his shoulder, pushing him back with its strength. He laughed sadly. It was pretty tragic when the only thing in the entire world that would listen and offer comfort without judgement was a demonic bull.

"I can't trust myself any more..."  
Caroline just stared at him with empty yellow eyes, not demanding justification; not asking anything from him; simply offering unconditional love.

"I don't know what I would have done if Majic hadn't walked in when he did. I wanted Lai to be Krylancelo so badly... Would I have used him for my own gratification, and spent the entire time imagining he was someone else? Am I that cold and shallow?!"  
He laid his cheek against the bull's large forehead, between its horns, and closed his eyes. Little realising that he had been the victim of the very same cold and shallow act he despised himself for thinking about.

"Maybe Lai's right... maybe he's always been right..."  
Caroline's breath was cold as it snorted at his robes in response.  
"But how can I let Krylancelo go when I love him so much?"

 

* * * * *

"Damn it!" Orphen swore as he made his way out of the library.

And in the silence of his meditation chamber, Lai nodded. His words had finally got through to the stubborn sorcerer - and a lovers' confrontation drew near. He stood up and began pacing the tiny diameter of his room, back and forth... waiting. Waiting for when Hartia would need him.

 

* * * * *

"Hartia?"  
There was no response from the bundle of blue robes curled up at Caroline's hooves.  
"Hartia, wake up!"  
He was moving, more out of habit than will, as he sat up and stared blankly at the shadow reaching its hands down to him. "Lai...?"  
"No." The shadow answered. "How could you fall asleep in here? It stinks!"

"...Krylancelo?"  
Orphen frowned. There was _that_ name again. "Come on, Sleepy. Let's get you into bed."  
Hartia smiled at the proposition as Orphen lifted him into his arms, snuggling against Orphen's neck none too subtly as the dark sorcerer made his way back to the Tower with him.

Nuzzles turned to kisses along the journey. Orphen had not even noticed until a particularly passionate suckle at his throat made him shiver. He swatted Hartia away, muttering something derogatory as he did. But Hartia was undeterred, tightening his embrace and pushing himself wantonly against Orphen as he continued his assault on the man's delicious neck.

"Hartia..." He growled. His goosebumps, however, spoke a different language. "I didn't come back to fuck around with you-"  
"But while you're here..."  
"I just needed to borrow a book, okay?"  
Lips latched onto Orphen's a desperate kiss, while the dark-haired sorcerer tried to pull away without dropping Hartia (even though the idea was gaining more and more merit as the redhead persisted).

"Stop it!"  
When the redhead ignored the demand, Orphen promptly let go of him. The hope that he would fall to the ground and calm down was dashed in seconds. Hartia's arms refused to release Orphen from their grasp, and as he fell, he dragged his dark lover with him.

The pair landed in an awkward pile. The initial pain from taking the impact of Orphen's weight vanished in a fit of laughter.

"You have no idea how much I hate you right now." Orphen began to prop himself up and away.  
Hartia's arms twined around his retreating neck, attempting to pull him back. "And you have no idea how much I love you... right..."

He trailed off mid-sentence as Orphen's stare forced him into silence. Such dark eyes... wanting... _demanding_ unspeakable, forbidden acts that Hartia was only too willing to do for him.

"Stay with me." The redhead whispered. "It'd be like the old days."  
"It won't be... It _can't_ be like the old days."  
"Why not?"  
"You don't get it, do you, Hartia? We're _just_ friends - that's all we ever have been, and all we ever will be."  
" _Just friends_ don't do what we did together."  
Orphen sat up, looking away angrily.

"Krylancelo?" Hartia prompted after an uncomfortable silence.

"...It was a mistake." He finally answered, so distantly he could well have been talking to himself.  
"A mistake?!" The redhead repeated, shocked and hurt. "How... can you say that?"  
"I guess I was just scared that I could have lost you without..."  
"Without what?"  
"...Without ever letting you have the one thing I knew you always wanted."  
"You fucked me out of pity?!"  
"I thought you knew that!"

Hartia was quick to leap to his feet, hoping his height would give him some leverage in the argument. "You’re such an asshole!"  
He only succeeded in making himself feel awkward. If Orphen said anything more to upset him, he just knew his trembling legs would not keep him upright for very long.

“I thought you knew _that_ , too.” There it was.

The look on Hartia's face conveyed _exactly_ how hurt and used he felt. "How could you do this to me?"  
"Do what?!" Orphen yelled back, growing angrier by the second at his company's melodramatics. "All I ever did was give you what I could as a friend! I couldn't give you the love you wanted, but I could give you empty actions. You're asking too much of me!"  
"Krylancelo..."

There was an uncomfortable silence as Hartia's voice drifted off into tears. Orphen was half tempted to walk off. Every time he tried to explain, Hartia would warp his words to make it sound like he was the bad guy. There shouldn't have even been a 'bad guy' - it was a one night stand! Everyone gets what they want... no one gets hurt.

Hartia always had to be different.

But that's what Orphen liked about him.

"Come with _me_ , then."  
"What?"  
"Leave the Tower, and come with me." Orphen reached to stroke his face.  
"For how long, Krylancelo?" Hartia cringed, as if the fingers touching him were made of acid. "If I gave up everything for you, how long would you have me for?"

Golden eyes brimmed with hope as he waited for the answer. An answer that could save or damn their future together. Orphen wanted him... but after kissing Lai, he was so confused. He didn't want to hurt any more. He wanted to be loved...

_Forever._

"Forever..." Hartia mouthed the word, as if trying to subliminally coax it from his friend's lips.

"I don't know."

Orphen had not been there to see the first time he had broken Hartia's heart, and he wished he was not there to see it now. To watch his friend's face falter before being hastily covered by trembling hands.

"Hartia, I can't tell you what you want to hear. I don't love you the way you love me - I never have, and I never will. Even if I _was_ irresponsible enough to use you purely for my own physical pleasure, I _don't know_ how long that would last."

The redhead looked up, moonlight sparkling in the streaks of tears running down his face. "...Did you ever love me at all?"  
Orphen had done so many things he felt uncomfortable with, but none had ever been as weird as hugging Hartia to his chest and letting the fragile sorcerer cry against him.  
"You're my best friend... and I love you as much as a friend can. I never meant to hurt you."  
"Why...?"  
"Why, what?"  
"Why did you make me love you so much?"

Red strands looked like blood winding free of his splayed fingers as he ran his hand through Hartia's hair.  
"I never _made_ you do anything - the least of all love me. I thought I'd done everything to push you away."  
"Get out." The paler man sniffled, not knowing whether he was crying over Orphen's words or his own anymore.  
"Hartia?"  
"Get out!"

The echo of his scream in the twilight barely lasted a moment, and carried only several metres around him; but in a silent room, deep within the depths of the tower, Lai heard it in his soul. And he breathed a sigh of relief.

It was finally over.

Making his way out to the main perimeter, he could make out the lone crumpled figure in the shadows. Orphen was gone. He gathered Hartia up from the ground, wrapping his arms around him, and waited for the inevitable tears to come. Slow at first, like he wanted to look like it didn't hurt as much as it did, little sniffles turned into deep sobs and wails. He didn't have to pretend with Lai. Lai already knew what was in his heart.

"I told him to leave..." He cried into his friend's robes. "But I didn't want him to. Oh, Lai... If he even felt _anything_ for me, he would have stayed, wouldn't he?"  
"Perhaps it was the only thing he _could_ do for you."  
"I love him still."  
"I know."

Hartia closed his eyes, not so much sobbing anymore as reflecting sadly. Lai held him tightly, determined never to let him go. He had failed in keeping the doomed couple away from each other in the past... but he wouldn't let it happen ever again.

"Krylancelo..." The redhead sighed drowsily.  
Lai stroked his friend's hair. "You've said that name for as long as I've known you. Could you ever see it in your heart to call your lover by another name?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Perhaps one day you could call him Lai?"  
Confused golden eyes met earnest green eyes. "Lai? What are you saying?"  
"Don't answer right now." He hooked Hartia's arm around his shoulders and helped him to stand. He knew the answer already. He always had.  
Hartia tightened his embrace. "I'd like that...

"Lai..."


End file.
